"And when they ask us what we're doing, you can say, We're remembering...." (Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451)

Tuesday, August 31, 2010

WHERE ARE THEY NOW: PEYTON LIST (EX-LUCY MONTGOMERY; AS THE WORLD TURNS)

Considered the one and only true Lucy to Grayson McCouch’s Dusty Donovan, Peyton List has kept herself busy since her departure from Oakdale, showing off her 1960s best on AMC’s Mad Men and dealing with the convoluted, riveting mysteries of ABC’s FlashForward.

Check her out in the complete series of FlashForward, out today on DVD!

Monday, August 30, 2010

Amanda thought she'd dodged a bullet the previous night, sneaking into the house long after everyone had gone to bed and avoiding Rachel's inevitable, smothering concern. But there her mother was, in court bright and early, sitting next to Jamie, leaning over the barrier to confer with Kevin at the defense table. As if any of this were her business in the slightest. (Though, to give credit where credit was due, it had taken a single phone call from Rachel Hutchins to succeed where a flurry of e-mails and threats from both Amanda and her PR department had failed: Banning the press from the courtroom.)

"There you are, darling," Rachel said.

"Late as usual," was what Amanda heard.

She told herself that she had to calm down, focus on Allie and her needs, not Rachel and their issues. But it was easier said than done.

"The bailiff's gone to get the kids from holding," Kevin told everyone. "It should be a few more minutes."

Across the aisle, Chase Hamilton was looking characteristically smug. Jamie's stomach lurched at the memory of his own experience going up against the man only a few months earlier. He snuck a peek at Rachel. He could tell they were both thinking the same thing. Yup, she most certainly could take him; just say the word. Simply imagining the resulting scene made Jamie smile and helped lift a fraction of his nervous tension.

"It's good to have you here, Mom," he told her. Even if Amanda's body language appeared to radiate the exact opposite. Even if they were all pretending not to notice.

Jamie heard the doors open behind them and pivoted in his seat, expecting Steven, Allie and the rest. Instead, he saw Marley, accompanied by Grant....

***

Lila worries about Amanda and Kevin's renewed connection, Donna comes through for John in a surprising way while Sharlene receives support from Alice, Steven's reaction reminds Jamie of earlier losses, GQ turns down help, and Marley works to maneuver Grant into the spotlight.

Due to technical issues with Hulu.com there will be no flashback clips this week. Please enjoy our Before They Were on Another World segment instead.

Holly snapped, "Just because you ruined your chances with Rick 20 years ago due to being obsessed with Roger, doesn't mean every woman feels the same way."

She stormed off. But didn't deny Mindy's accusation.

When Rick came home from work unexpectedly, Mindy thought he was furious about her getting between Holly and Ed, but Rick had bad news to deliver. Gregory, Hudson's biological father, was dead, and Allie, Hudson's biological mother, in jail for it.

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Rachel asked her son, "Do you understand now that I would have done anything, dropped anything, sacrificed anything to help you? That's one of the benefits of being a parent."

"Which one?" Jamie clarified. "The ulcers, the sleep deprivation, or that crushing sense of failure chomping at your heels, ready to strike at any moment?"

"The feeling of having helped your child. The knowledge that, once in a while, you've actually gotten the chance to do what you were put on Earth to do. And that you didn't mess it up... too badly."

"Well, the jury is still out on me and Steven in that regard." He sank down on the couch, burying his face in his hands. "Kevin says this could be really bad, Mom."

"We'll find out soon enough, and then we'll deal with whatever comes. If you and Amanda don't object, I'd like to come to court tomorrow morning, see if I can be of any help at all."

"Think you could pin Chase Hamilton down while Amanda and I herd the kids off in our getaway car?"

"You know I could," Rachel said. And she wasn't kidding.

"Actually, Mom," Jamie ventured, bringing up the subject on his own for the first time since Rachel had learned the truth. "You did help me. All those years ago. You just didn't realize it..."

***

Gregory's death knocks Donna off-course - and gives Marley an idea about Grant's future, Lori Ann celebrates her first birthday surrounded by family... and prison bars, Kevin proves the bearer of bad news, and Alice offers Spencer part of an answer.

Plus classic clips of Grant reaching out to toddler Steven, and Jenna making plans for a life without Dean.

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

SHARE YOUR ATWT MEMORIES!

A Cincinnati reporter asks:

I’m looking for help. I want to get some emails — not just posts on the blog — from ”As The World Turns” fans past and present. Maybe you remember watching with your mother or grandmother….. Maybe you remember seeing young future stars on the show like Meg Ryan, Dana Delany, Julianne Moore, Marisa Tomei, James Earl Jones, Ming-Na, Parker Posey, James Van Der Beek or Steven Weber?…. Maybe you’re just sad to see P&G quit making soap operas after 77 years… Here’s a link to email me comments that I could use in a story on or near the Sept. 17 finale. If you know people who watched the show years ago, spread the word. And if Grandma doesn’t have a computer, give her my snail mail address: John Kiesewetter, Enquirer TV/Media writer, 312 Elm St., Cincinnati, OH 45202.

Monday, August 23, 2010

ANOTHER WORLD TODAY EPISODE #68-1

"You know," Carl mused. "There used to be a time when you actually liked me, Marley. I daresay, you even looked upon me as a quasi-father figure."

"I was six, Carl. You were married to my glamorous, beautiful, presumed big sister, and the man I'd been told was my father had no interest in me whatsoever. Of course, I liked you. Oh, and I didn't yet know about your penchant for killing and torturing people. I'm sorry, your former penchant for killing and torturing people."

"Your mother did the same thing to you that she did to Jenna, have you stopped to think about that? With poor Victoria, she could at least claim genuine lack of knowledge. That daughter was, in fact, spirited away from her. But she rejected you in precisely the same manner. Worse even. Jenna, she placed in a loving home; my understanding is that Gloria Norris adored the child. You, in spite of all she'd suffered at his hands, Donna nonetheless abandoned to Reginald's mercy."

"She had no choice," Marley insisted. "He locked her up when she was pregnant. He horsewhipped my father and ran him out of town. He was a monster."

"A presumed dead monster. I did the math, Marley. You were only a few years old when Reginald absconded to Paraguay with the amnesiac Mary McKinnon. What precisely was it that prevented Donna from claiming you as her child then? Goodness, you probably would have barely noticed the change, you were still so young."

Marley stared at him blankly, silently, furiously; loathe to admit that the possibility had never crossed her mind. She'd always accepted Donna's version of events about her origins hook, line and sinker. She hadn't thought to question any part of it.

***

John and Sharlene finally reclaim their son, Grant's offer is greeted with sarcasm, Donna makes an unexpected move, Spencer catches Alice off-guard, Amanda, Jamie and Kevin attempt to help their children, while Allie, Steven, Sarah, Jen and GQ are faced with a real-life Prisoner's Dilemma.

Plus a classic clip of Donna attempting to explain her past to Marley, and John facing life without Sharlene.

Mindy decided not to tell Rick what Shayne and Marina had confided in her about Reva, Josh, Marah, and a kidnapped by Edmund Colin. (Especially when Reva sent Mindy a text message warning her to butt out.)

She distracted him by admitting that she's worried about Hudson. What if their baby inherited the same genetic condition currently killing his biological father, Gregory?

Rick offered that there was a test Hudson could take to see if he carried the same genetic markers. But, it was painful, carried risks of its own and ultimately would only tell them if he might get sick, not whether or not he would for sure. Did Mindy really want to spend their son's childhood in a state of anxiety? Mindy wasn't sure.

Meanwhile, the beginning of the school year meant that Leah would finally be starting the gifted program Rick had been pushing for months - alongside Kevin Marler. The idea of her stepdaughter dating Roger's grandson did not fill Mindy with glee.

Rick, on the other hand, wasn't thrilled to hear that Leah's school was cutting back on their advanced classes to make room for a special needs program that Meg Reade would be attending. Rick swore that he wouldn't have his daughter's education short-changed just because the school wanted to bring in more money.

Seeing that he was getting upset, Mindy changed the subject by asking Leah how Blake and Frank were.

"Lorna has this talent for making you do stuff you had no intention of doing," Matt raged. "And then telling you it was all your idea. And you believe her! So you go do it some more!"

Rachel attempted to mollify, "You were still a boy when you and Lorna were together. Jamie is a grown man - "

"Who hadn't dated in how long before she came around? Face it, Mom, Jamie was the definition of easy pickings. And it wouldn't be his first time, would it? My big brother is hardly the world's best judge of character when it comes to knowing he's being played. And another thing: When Lorna convinced me to sink my entire trust fund into D&M,you pitched a fit. The two of us couldn't have a single conversation that didn't end up a fight about Lorna. And now, Jamie's just dropped how much on a house for her? Not to mention, who do you think will end up footing all those legal bills for Lori Ann's custody? And I haven't heard a peep out of you. Don't you care that Lorna's going to grind him down, use him up, then dump him when she's through?"

"Like Donna did to you?" Rachel proposed gently, her comment causing Matt to freeze mid-tirade, his face flushing an even deeper crimson.

"Who's talking about Donna? I was talking about - "

"I know you care about your brother, Matt. But this level of anger... it can't all be for him. It can't even all be for Lorna. I think those particular wounds were scabbed over a long time ago. On the other hand, Donna... Oh, sweetheart, I know how much you loved her. But, you have to face reality: Donna has some severe demons to wrestle with. And most of them - no, I daresay, all of them - were in place long before she met you. Long before you were even born. You can't hope to fix a person that damaged."

"Really?" he challenged. "What about Carl? Isn't that exactly what you claim you did with him? Fixed him up so he could stand straight and fly right, same way Mac did with you? That's all I wanted. I wanted to help Donna be a better person. I thought you, of all people, would understand."

***

John makes a decision about Gregory's friends, Grant and Marley get more than they bargained for, Carl takes a strategical hint from Elizabeth, and Amanda receives a double-shock.

Plus, a classic clip of Spencer offering parenting advice to Grant (it explains a heck of a lot) and your chance to vote on which AWT couple you'd like to see more of!

Finally! A book for soap fans who want to be taken seriously - and have their contribution to the genre's success acknowledged!

Jennifer Hayward's non-fiction work, Consuming Pleasures: Active Audiences and Serial Fictions from Dickens to Soap Opera, posits that serials are "defined by the activities of its audience rather than by the formal qualities of the text.... (and) that serial audiences have developed active strategies of consumption, such as collaborative reading and attempts to shape the production process. In this way fans have forced serial producers to acknowledge the power of the audience."

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

GL's Alan may have had little cause to sing and dance his way through life, but actor Ron Raines started in musical theater and is scheduled to appear at Festival Miami in October.

For those unable to make it down South for the concert, check out some of Ron's albums below!

(Full, geeky disclosure: As a major musical theater fan, when Ron first started on GL in 1994, it was all I could do to keep from, every time Alan would make an overly theatrical pronouncement, tag it with "In Camelot!" Trust me, if you're into musical theater, it's very funny. If you're not, it's just weird. I realize this.)

Monday, August 16, 2010

ANOTHER WORLD TODAY EPISODE #67-1

It was a combination of genuine worry, guilt over having been too wrapped up in her own problems, and an admittedly futile attempt to put some of those unsolvable issues temporarily on the back burner that drove Frankie to Sharlene's farmhouse, where she found her aunt pacing the well-worn route from front door to kitchen, glaring at the infuriatingly silent phone every time she whipped by it.

"Not ringing is a good sign," Frankie insisted on looking at the bright side. "If Gregory were... Allie would have called you."

"Allie," Sharlene bitterly muttered the name. "I swear, by the time I get through with that girl, she'll be begging to get locked up in jail, if only to keep herself safe from me."

"The minute they're found, you are going to be so happy to see Gregory, you're not going to care one whit about Allie or anything else."

"She couldn't have pulled this off on her own," Sharlene stuck to her train of thought. Because swerving even so much as a hairsbreadth was way too risky right now. "God knows, girl doesn't have the sense the Devil gave lint. That ill-bred friend of hers, though, Sarah; she's Olivia all over again. Conniving. Underhanded. She has to be the brains behind this. Her or Steven. Girls like that, they know how to make any boy do their bidding, genius IQ be damned. What do you want to bet Steven is just like his father? He'll sacrifice anything for a pretty face."

Frankie blanched slightly at the mention of Jamie, their playground conversation still weighing heavily despite the attempt at distraction. She wondered if Jamie were determined to let yet another pretty face talk him into blowing his life up for her? And then Frankie wondered if she'd be the one to actually light the fuse?

"Those arrogant brats," Sharlene continued to seethe. "They think they understand what's going on. They think they know best. Based on their years and years of life experience, they've decided I'm the bad guy for wanting to save my son. Allie at least has the excuse of being spoiled and sheltered and raised by her equally over-privileged and clueless mother. But, Gregory... He knows... He's been through so much. He's got to be in such pain right now, Frankie. Why would he put himself through this?"

***

Kirkland and Grant come to an understanding, Lorna compares herself to the last person Jamie ever expected, Rachel's youngest son fills her in about his brothers, and John faces a difficult question while Allie holds her ground regarding Gregory.

Friday, August 13, 2010

Marina and Shayne confessed to Mindy that Colin had been kidnapped by Edmund. Reva, Josh and Marah attempted to look for him themselves, but when that proved futile, they asked Marina and Shayne to put them in touch with Mallet and Dinah. (Turns out that Marina and Shayne had been keeping in touch with their respective exes... without telling the other they were doing it.)

Shayne and Marina warned Mindy not to tell anyone - even Rick - about it, since the more people who knew, the more risk to Colin.

Mindy thought the whole thing was a bad idea. Edmund is a wanted man, they should contact the proper authorities rather than let one pair of criminals chase another. Still, she didn't want to put Colin into further danger.

Mindy came home, still unsure what she should do about Rick. She checked her phone messages and found one from Sharlene Frame, telling Mindy that Hudson's biological parents were still missing, and that an ill Gregory was running out of time. (To know what Mindy and Sharlene don't about Gregory, go to: http://www.anotherworldtoday.com/aw_today.html)

Mindy worried about Gregory and Allie, but she worried most of all that Hudson might have inherited the same illness....

"Marley, what a delightful surprise running into you again so soon," Carl purred upon spying her waiting patiently in the foyer.

"I came to pick up Kirkland," she explained. "He's going to spend a couple of days with Grant while Jamie and Lorna get settled at their new place."

"I see. And will you be in residence, as well, my dear?"

"If you're asking whether Grant and I are living together, no, we're not. I have the girls to think about."

"Quite right, quite right. I'm sure you'll forgive me if I remain a bit anxious at the idea of our Kirkland squirreled away within Grant's domicile, unsupervised, for days on end."

"Our Kirkland," Marley double-checked, amused and intrigued. "Since when are you so interested in Kirkland?"

"From the beginning," Carl insisted. "You know how fond Ryan was of the lad. He couldn't have loved him more if Kirkland were Ryan's own child."

"Kirkland's a lucky boy. A lot of people love him. Including his biological father."

"The ultimate upshot of which remains yet to be seen now, doesn't it?"

***

Marley questions Carl's intentions and accuses Donna of putting them all in danger, Lorna tells Jamie about Frankie's threat, driving Jamie to confront his cousin, and Allie sticks by Gregory while absolving her friends of responsibility.

Also, a classic Vicky/Marley clip and Grant laments that he wishes he could find a woman... just like Vicky.

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

HOW TO GET IN TO TIE-INS!

Do you love soap operas, television, movies, video games, comic books, etc... so much that you want to continue writing stories about your favorite characters and universes after the book has been closed, the television set turned off, the movie theater emptied?

Then you might want to look into the world of tie-in writing, books that are written based on other properties.

One of the key differences between writing a stand-alone tie-in and an on-going one is the level of fan interaction.

With “Another World Today” and Mindy’s Twitter, fans have contributed story suggestions, character motivations, and brought favorites back from the dead. (It’s a soap, it’s par for the course.)

On the positive side, it allows for an unprecedented level of interaction, as well as a sense of ownership for the fans.

On the negative, it sets up unreasonable, un-meetable expectations. Remember how you can’t please all of the people all of the time? In some circumstances, votes such as:

POLL: Should Cass help Donna? Votes for Yes 44%Votes for No 47%Votes for Only as long as Felicia never finds out 9%

47% to 44% is pretty darn close! Obviously, half the fans are going to be unhappy whatever we do!

A soap-writing mentor of mine once told me that every individual viewer’s perception of a story or character depends on where they came in to the saga.

If you’ve been watching for 35 years and clearly remember when the leading lady was a scheming villain with no redeemable qualities, you are going to interpret her actions differently than if you only started following fifteen years ago, after she’d been reformed by love, or five years ago, at which point the one-time vixen had become a cookie-baking grandmother. (There is also the challenge of filling newer fans in on a character’s history without pages and pages of exposition. Or having another character offer, “As you know, you once were in love with my husband, you hussy.”)

Depending on where you came in sets up how likely you are to say, “But he/she would NEVER do that!”

The challenge for me is to please all of the above contingents. Or to, at least, convince them that any action our ex-hussy/starry-eyed romantic/grandmother takes is well motivated and perfectly in character.

The Paley Center for Media in New York will host a tribute to As The World Turns on Wednesday, August 18 at 6:30 pm. Along with a video montage and sneak peak at the final episode, a panel of influential cast and crew members will discuss the history of the legendary soap.

Click here for more details -including which popular As The World Turns actors will appear on the panel!

Monday, August 09, 2010

WHERE ARE THEY NOW: BILLY MAGNUSSEN (CASEY HUGHES; AS THE WORLD TURNS)

"I cannot explain the joy they bring to me when I see them," the actor says of his soap followers. "They're the most loyal fans in the world, and they support me in everything I've ever done." Hopefully, that includes one other little known endeavor. In the future, he says, "I want to become a skydiving instructor."

That is just one of 'Five Things to Know About Twelve's (and ATWT's) Billy Magnussen!

“Alright,” Felicia changed tactics. “Then let’s try this on for size: Where was Lorna’s loyalty the last couple of years, when both Jenna and I could feel her pulling away from us, and no matter what we did or how we tried, Lorna just kept putting up wall after wall after wall; until we had absolutely no idea what was going on or what either of us might have done to trigger it.”

“The last couple of years?” Lucas managed to choke out guiltily, nurturing a very strong suspicion of what exactly it was that had triggered Lorna’s seemingly unmotivated withdrawal from her mother and sister.

“It was ridiculous, Luke. You weren’t here, you didn’t have to try and make heads or tails of it. Overnight, it was as if she’d become a different person, one who had no use for either Jenna or I. We both knew how touchy she could be, but, for the life of us, neither could figure out what we’d done to deserve this cold shoulder of hers. We called, we e-mailed, we texted. I even went to Chicago to speak to her face-to-face one time. Lorna acted like this was some huge intrusion into her privacy, she couldn’t get me out of her apartment fast enough.”

“We don’t know what might have been going on in her life at the time,” Lucas began.

“But, that’s just it! Why didn’t we know? Why couldn’t we know?”

“Because you can’t force any kind of relationship, Fanny, much less a mother/daughter one. The fact is, we both have to accept that neither of us will ever be able to have the kind of connection with Lorna we might have had if we’d raised her from the beginning. That kind of closeness won’t just happen.”

“It did with Jenna,” Felicia said quietly. “Jenna was nearly an adult when we met her; she wasn’t all that much younger than Lorna. And she even had a mother already; Lorna lost her adoptive parents when she was a child. But Jenna and I, we were close. Right from the beginning. We didn’t have to work on our relationship, it was simply there.”

***

Alice hits Spencer with the last truth he expected, Jamie makes an uncomfortable sacrifice for Kirkland, Allie and Gregory ponder what happens next, while Cass and Frankie disagree on legal - and emotional - strategy.

Plus, classic clips of Spencer admitting his failures to Ryan, and Lorna at Lucas' deathbed!

Friday, August 06, 2010

Concerned because Marah hadn't shown up to work in days and Reva and Josh weren't answering their cell phones, Mindy tried to pump Jonathan for details about his missing family.

In typical Jonathan fashion, she only got grunts and threats in returns. (Mindy took a moment off from her sleuthing to ponder what Lizzie ever saw in the guy, and to determine that Bill was far superior to Jonathan in every way.)

When Mindy confided in Rick, "The less Jonathan said, the more I knew he was hiding something," Rick wondered, "So, if he'd told you everything, would you believe he hadn't told you anything?"

Mindy responded by informing Rick that he wasn't nearly as funny as he thought he was.

Next, she went to see Shayne and Marina, figuring that, between being both family and a cop, they had to be able to help.

But, soon, it became obvious that the pair already knew what was going on. Shayne swore Mindy to secrecy and explained, "We'll tell you. But only because we don't want you to keep digging. We don't want anymore people put in danger."

Thursday, August 05, 2010

Felicia hesitated; growing so serious that Lucas felt his supportive smile dying as if blown away by a particularly harsh wind.

"What is it?" he asked softly, no longer merely dreading the answer, but genuinely afraid to hear it.

"I — Every time she gets like this, I can't — I can't help thinking that Lorna, she wouldn't be like this if I had gotten the chance to raise her."

"But that's perfectly natural," Lucas exhaled in relief, having prepared for something much, much worse. "Of course you feel like that. And it's most likely true, too. She would be a different person if we'd gotten to raise her ourselves."

"No. You don't understand. That's not all of it. Sometimes, I look at Lorna, and I think — I can't stop myself from thinking — I think: My daughter wouldn't be like this. This can't possibly be my daughter." Felicia looked at Lucas, standing there silent. She challenged, "Aren't you going to tell me that's perfectly natural, too?"

***

Grant turns to Marley and Spencer for support and gets more than he bargained for from both, Frankie's attempt to reason with Lorna goes shockingly awry, Alice makes a connection that encourages her push her luck, Kevin attempts to put Lila's mind at ease, and Matt lashes out at anyone handy.

Plus a classic clip: Felicia introduces Bay City to her long-lost daughter!

Monday, August 02, 2010

"I'll scream," Donna warned Carl as they stood outside the Hudson house, his hand clamped firmly over her wrist. "John is right inside, he'll- "

"Scream, then," Carl suggested politely.

"What do you want from me?" she demanded, inexplicably actually lowering her voice, rather than raising it as promised. Donna realized that whatever she'd be forced to face now, she owed it to John and Sharlene to leave them out of it.

"A bit late in the game to be posing such a question, is it not?"

"A bit late," Donna agreed. "To do anything."

"Oh, I wouldn't say that."

"Fine, Carl," she snapped, yanking her arm free, tired of the dread, tired of the game, tired of it all. "Go on. Get it over with. Reciteyour piece, do your worst."

"No," Carl said.

"No?" Whatever momentum Donna may have felt she'd gained by taking charge of the situation dissipated alongside his denial.

"No," he repeated. "That would be much, much too simple."

***

Felicia forces Lorna to see her actions in a new light, Alice takes a huge professional - and personal - risk, Cass and Frankie struggle to hold on to each other despite the obstacles, while Grant takes Marley down a risky, and all too familiar path.